Commissioner Cornell Harvey elected Brunswick's next mayor

Brunswick City Commissioner Cornell Harvey who is running for re-election.

BRUNSWICK | City Commissioner Cornell Harvey will be Brunswick’s next mayor.

Harvey, the longtime North Ward commissioner, easily defeated political newcomer Starling Sutton in a runoff of the Nov. 5 election in which Harvey finished first in a slate of five candidates but without the necessary majority.

With all precincts counted Tuesday night, Harvey had 830 votes, or 61 percent of the total, compared to Sutton’s 536 votes for 39 percent.

In the race to replace Harvey in the North Ward, pastor Vincent T. Williams, 48, who had been unsuccessful in several other runs for a City Commission seat, defeated 65-year-old real estate broker Neil Foster 748 to 567. Williams had 57 percent of the vote and Foster 43 percent.

In the South Ward runoff, IRS advisor Felicia Harris, 47, unseated Emmitt Nolan 535 to 471. Nolan, a 38-year-old Glynn County property appraiser, had been appointed to the seat earlier this year after Gov. Nathan Deal suspended James Henry Brooks Sr. pending his trial on racketeering charges in Camden County.

The candidates were faced with the task of getting their supporters back to the polls and they tried up to the end. Campaign workers stood on sidewalks and street corners near voting precincts after dark still waving and holding signs lit by the headlights of passing cars.

Harvey will replace Mayor Bryan Thompson who is leaving after serving the maximum two terms at the center of the commission table.

Harvey is already serving as mayor pro tem having replaced the 60-year-old Brooks in the position after Brooks was suspended.

The 60-year-old Harvey is retiring as head of human resources for he Jekyll Island Authority. Sutton, 67, has worked in community development for 35 years.

Because he had not stood trial, Brooks ran Nov. 5 to regain his seat but finished a distant third. Had he been elected, Deal could not have removed him again unless he had been convicted of the felony influence peddling charges.

Brooks was seeking his third term. His trial is set for Dec. 16 in Woodbine.